i asked my company to pay for the commute they now require and the answer taught me exactly what they think my time is worth

figured i’d try something. we got mandated back three days a week, and my commute is 45 minutes each way, so i went to HR with a straightforward proposal.

i said, look, you’ve made a business requirement that i be physically in a location. i’m happy to comply. the travel to satisfy that requirement costs me roughly 90 minutes a day and about $190 a month in gas and parking. so i’d like to discuss either a commuting stipend, or counting the travel as part of the working day, since it’s now mandatory work-related travel.

the response, and i’m paraphrasing only slightly, was that commuting is a personal expense and personal time, and that “everyone has to get to work.”

so let’s be precise about what that means. the commute is mandatory when they need me in the building. it’s personal when there’s a bill attached. the exact same 90 minutes belongs to them when it comes to compliance and belongs to me when it comes to compensation, and the difference is decided entirely by which answer costs them less.

it’s not that i expected them to say yes. i knew they’d say no. i wanted the no on the record, in writing, so i’d stop wondering whether the years of good work had bought me any real standing, and now i know it bought me the standard reply.